🏟️ World Cup 2026 — A Whole Continent Throwing One Party
My Experience at the World Cup
For five weeks between 11 June and 19 July 2026, forty-eight teams played across sixteen cities in three countries, and North America turned into the largest cultural festival I have ever walked through. A record 3,605,357 people went through the turnstiles. I am fairly sure I hugged a decent percentage of them.
I went for the football and stayed for everything around it. The stadiums were extraordinary — walking up into the stands in Atlanta with that roof opening above us is a feeling I still have not described properly. But the tournament I actually fell in love with happened outside the gates: in fan festivals where five nationalities taught each other chants, in plazas where a thousand strangers watched one screen together, and at food stalls where tacos, jollof rice and pastries queued up side by side.
It ended on 19 July in New Jersey, where Spain beat Argentina 1–0 after extra time and Rodri lifted the trophy — which, after the summer I had spent in Seville, felt like a very personal result.
This is not a football blog. It is a culture blog that spent a summer discovering that football is one of the biggest cultures there is.
Explore the World Cup
Match days, fan fests, host cities and the food that stole the tournament.
